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Summary

A motte castle and moated site 300m NE of Haygate Farm

Monument Type(s):

• CASTLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Events:

• Fieldwalking survey at John O'Gaunts Castle, Bassingbourn, 1993

Protected Status:

• Scheduled Monument 20420: John o'Gaunt's House: a motte castle and moated site 300m NE of Haygate Farm

Full description

John O'Gaunt's House: a motte castle and moated site 300m NE of Haygate Farm.
5. Applies to the site of the old manor of Richmond's, which was part of the large dower of Queen Edith, consort of the Confessor, situated approximately three quarters of a mile NW of Bassingbourn church.
7. This moated site is situated at the N end of the village on the E side of the brook which flows northwards from Bassingbourn Springs to join the Cam. Until 1887 the earthworks were still well preserved and some structural features of the buildings which once stood on this site survived, but in that year the whole area was turned over by coprolite diggers and the moats were to a large extent filled up. In 1266 Warin de Bassingbourn received a licence to inclose his house with a dyke and a wall of stones and to crenellate it. When he died in 1268 his castle on this site is specifically mentioned, and Lysons states that in his time the manor was still called the Castle Manor. The site now consists of a large sub rectangular moated area measuring 400ft by 300ft, approached from the S by a causeway 600ft long from the Bassingbourn - Shingay road. In the northern part of the moated area and abutting close to the outer moat there is a rectangular mound, 200ft by 90ft, closely surrounded by a moat averaging about 30ft in width. This area was the strongest part of the site and the mound is said to have stood to a height of 10ft or 12ft above the general ground level before 1887. This is improbable, but it has now been reduced to about 3ftand much of it has been used to fill up the surrounding moat. Before 1887 the abutments of a bridge were visible on the S side, but in that year these stones and other remains of foundations were removed and used to mend the roads. The whole area inside the outer moat is now under the plough and only traces can be seen on the N and E sides. At each side of the causeway entrance the outer moat presents some circular projections which may have once carried bastions overlooking the entrance. There are traces of two lesser examples a few yards to the E and W of the larger ones. A high mound outside the moat on the W side of the entrance does not seem to be original. The site has been much damaged by digging, but it seems clear that the traces of banks on the inner side of the outer moat round the northern half of the Inclosure are original, though they have been much spread inwards. The SE corner of the inner moated area has been badly dug down, and there is a fair amount of brick and tile rubbish to be seen on the ploughed land, which suggests that buildings of post C15 date have stood here. The inner moat drew its water from a cut joining it with the outer moat to the SW. The whole was supplied from the Bassingbourn Brook. an earlier course of which may be plainly traced in the field to the W of the entrance causeway. A sudden inward bend of the outer moat on the E side suggests that it may have once followed a course along the S side of the inner moat and then have been later extended to take in a larger area to the S. On the W of the site the remains of an approach ramp for a bridge over the Mod course of the Bassingbourn Brook cannot be an original feature. The long approach causeway is an unusual feature of the site; it was until recent times flanked by an avenue of trees and is said by tradition to have once extended S to Bassingbourn Church. The carriageway is 18ft wide and is flanked by deep ditches which are prolongations of the outer moat. On the outer side of these ditches are banks of upcast, which have now been partly levelled, but on the E side the bank is part of the Inclosure of another large area, now mainly under the plough, probably related to the main site. There are signs of the prolongation of the causeway across the outer ward to the site of the bridge over the inner moat. The type of castle built by Warinde Bassingbourn after 1266 is unknown, but the central stronghold may be compared with Burwell, Rampton and Caxton, which appear to beat least 100 years earlier in date, so that this nucleus may be older than the licence to crenellate. It is doubtful whether this Bassingbourn site can be truly regarded as that of a castle, but the form of the inner mound suggests that it belongs to a class of minor local strongholds of the C12 in its earlier form.
8. Further details of the site have been revealed by air photography. At the centre of the site is a prominent subrectangular enclosure A, having a wide moat with sharp angles. In spite of long continued ploughing the ground within the moat still stands up to 1,5m above the surrounding land. This enclosure occupies the northern half of a roughly square area delineated by a ditch or moat B which has been laid out with considerable care. On the S front the ditch curves outwards to form two projecting semicircles with similar features on the E front, and the NE corner. Ploughing has confirmed that the sides of the ditch were faced with stone. There is a third enclosure C, about 140m by 200m, extending further N than the other works. It is bounded by a ditch with a chalk inner bank, and has sharp angles. It is suggested that the rectangular site A is a C12 homestead moat and the outer moat B represents the fortification of the site in 1266.O4, Condition very poor as a result of continual ploughing. Earthworks only distinguishable as irregular rises and hollows, though fairly pronounced. Much Mod building rubble. Causeway no longer visible.
9. John O Gaunt's house (medieval buildings) (A Spedding 10/10/1983CUCAP APs CNZ 39 used).
10. At the request of English Heritage a fieldwalking programme was carried out to assess the damage being caused by ploughing. The site was walked on a 20m grid aligned along the W field boundary and centred on the motte. Pottery and flint artefacts were collected and tile and animal bone recorded. Tile was not removed as it is seen as an integral part of the earthwork monument, giving a strong indication of building location. Only nine pieces of Medieval and Post Medieval pottery were collected which may relate to occupancy of the moated site. There were tile scatters concentrated on the E side of the motte.

O3, The entire site is now ploughed and at present under winter crop. Although the slopes have been considerably spread, an elevation still marks the site of the island.
O5, A complex moated site NE of the village to which C12 and C13 documentary references probably refer. In 1276 licence was given to surround a manor house with a moat and a stone wall and to crenellate. The site was still known as Castle Manor in Lyson's time. Recent APs have shown up the plan of the moats, which were filled in towards the end of the C19. They form three enclosures and include an elaborate entrance on the S side. The ground is all arable now, but in spite of long continued ploughing the ground within the central moat still stands up to 1,5m above the surrounding land. As the arable field in which the monument lies was planted with winter wheat, the owner was anxious that I should not walk on the crop, so the site was observed from the road. The enclosure within the central moat was easily seen rising above the arable field to an estimated 1,5m, nothing else visible.
O6, The motte castle is visible as a low mound c 1,5m high, to the W of the centre of the ploughed field in which it lies. The motte is squarish in plan, measuring c 60m across. APs show that the motte is surrounded by a ditch, now infilled but surviving as a buried feature between 10m and 20m wide. Also identifiable are the below-ground remains of the motte. The infilled arms of the motte average 10mwide. The W arm runs close to the E edge of the motte. The moat is approached from the S by a causeway, some 200m long leading from the Bassingbourn to Shingay road. The S arm of the moat has a pair of semi-circular projections which would have carried bastion towers.
Function: defended house
Finished? Yes
Occupation: yes, from 1226
Relationship to surrounding near village settlements

Sources and further reading

Reports

Aerial photograph of soil marks at John O'Gaunt's castle © Cambridgeshire County Council. Click to open in a new window.

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